Depression Era Quilts
in Nebraska

Feed Sacks

People commonly think of sewing with
feed sack fabric as a Depression-era practice. In fact, thrifty stitchers had been doing this
since the late 1800s. Necessities such as flour, cornmeal, salt,
sugar, and animal feed came in cotton sacks. Early cotton sack
recyclers had to either ignore product markings or incorporate
them into their projects. In time, manufacturers and magazines
began giving instructions on how to remove these markings. Eventually
detachable labels were used. By the 1920s, sacks were available
in bright colors and prints. By the late 1930s, artists specifically
designed sack fabric. Some sacks were even designed as specific
sewing projects. After World War II, paper sacks were more widely
used and fabric became less expensive for the average consumer.
The use of feed sack fabric in sewing projects declined. The
fabric sack industry, however, continued to promote their products.
Blended fiber sacks were made into the 1960s.

Mary Dietsch Skadden pieced the top of
this quilt with many feedsack fabrics in the late 1920s to late
1930s. It was completed in 1978 by Darlene M. Swartz Miltner.
However, the use of some larger floral patterns may mean that
this quilt was actually pieced in the mid 1930s to mid 1940s.
The cream colored background on the top of this quilt appears
to be made of flour, sugar, or feed sacks, and some of the labels
are still faintly visible. The words "FINE," "HOLLY'S,"
"GOLD," "AF," "GREA," and "RAND"
appear in blue lettering.

Emma Gelston Rohner, the maker of this
quilt and the Block Island Puzzle Variation also on exhibit,
was born in 1870 in Elk City, Nebraska. According to her granddaughter,
Emma learned to sew at a very young age-her mother gave her fabric,
needle, and thread when she was just three years old. Emma married
Jake Rohner in 1892. They lived in Belgrade, Fullerton, and finally
Columbus, Nebraska.

This quilt, which features feed sack material
on the front, was made by Iva Wintersteen Lewis. Iva was born
in 1878 in Fillmore County. She later became an actress and traveled
with "Lewis and Poore" or the Lewis Stock Company.
She was married at one time to Frank Lewis, one of the traveling
show's owners. She later lived on the farmstead of William and
Rose York where she helped with various household duties, including
caring for their daughter, Darlene, for whom Iva made this quilt
in 1940.

These puppets, used on the Crete Flour Mills sack, were designed
by Richard E. "Rick" Fletcher while he was an artist
for the Rudy Moritz Advertising Co. in Davenport, Iowa. Fletcher
was born in Burlington, Iowa, in 1916. After graduating from
high school he worked for the Tri City Star newspaper
in Davenport, and then for the Rudy Mortiz Advertising Co. from
about 1937 to 1942 when he went into the service. He was discharged
in 1946 and went to Chicago. He worked at the Chicago Tribune
in the advertising art department. At the Tribune, Fletcher
and writer Athena Robbins created "The Old Glory Story,
a History of our Flag." In 1961 he became an assistant to
Chester Gould on the "Dick Tracy" comic. When Gould
retired in 1976, Fletcher took over all the artwork and continued
until his death March 16, 1983.